Furniture-caster.



2 Sheets-Shaet I.

Patented Dec. 3, I90l. H. B. KEIPER.

FURNITURE GASTER.

Apphcahon filed Dec 26 1900 (No Model.)

Patented Dec. 3, IQOI.

H. B. KEIPER.

FURNITURE EASTER.

(Application filed Dec. 26, 1900.1 7

2 Sheets-$heet 2.

(No Model.)

, wmmw 'Nrrsn STATES HENRY B. KEIPER, OF LANCASTER,

STARBALL RETAINER COMPANY,

ATJENT FURNlTURE-CASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 687,838, dated December 3, 1 901.

Application filed December 26, 1900. sertu No. 41,119. (No model.)

To all z'vlwm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY B. KEIPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furniture-Casters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to furniture-casters; and the object is to provide a furniture-caster of improved construction with ball-bearings, which may be manufactured at a comparatively small cost and which shall be light in weight, easy running, and efficient and durable in use.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In said drawings, in which corresponding parts in different views are denoted by like letters of reference, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a furniture-caster embodying my invention. ,Fig. 2 is a similar View with the socket or sleeve removed from the stem. Fig. 3 represents the caster in front elevation with the lower portion, or the yoke and wheel,

- in section, taken on line III III of Fig. 4, and

the upper portion of the socket or sleeve partly broken away, showing a device for swiveling the stem to the socket or sleeve. Fig. 4. is a side elevation of the same, principally in section, taken on line IV IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 represents a section taken on line V V of Fig. 3. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are detail views, in vertical cross-section, of the swivel socket or sleeve, the yoke 01' roller-supporting frame, and the roller, respectively. Fig. 9 represents in side elevation a modification of my invention as embodied in a bed-caster, the lower portion of one of the shanks being broken away and the wheel pin and one of the cones being shown in section. Fig. 10 represents the same in front elevation with the lower portion, or the yoke and wheel, in vertieal'section; and Figs. 11 and 12 are detail views, in front vertical section, of the wheel and yoke, respectively, of the caster shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

The letter A in the drawings denotes the swivel-pin or vertical stem of a caster; B, 'a sleeve or socket therefor; O, the yoke or roller-supporting frame, secured to the lower end of the stem, and D the wheel or roller.

The stem or swivel-pin A may be of the usual or any desired form, but preferably has a conical formation or enlarged portion a at its lower end to form a cone seat or hearing for balls contained in a cup or recess in the lower portion of the socket or sleeve B and also an annular groove a, at or near its upper end to engage a catch or spring in the sleeve or socket for the purpose of yieldingl y locking and holding the stem fast therein..

The sleeve or socket B may be provided with an enlarged lower portion b, which forms a projection or shoulder to receive and support the weight of the article of furniture to which the caster is attached, and said sleeve may be interiorly chambered or recessed at its lower end to form a cup for the antifrictionballs 6 e. The balls 6 e bear against the upper and lateral sides of said cup and against the conical portion a. of the stem or swivelpin, thus forming an antifriction-bearing of the sleeve or yoke B on the stem or swivel-pin A. For the purpose of reducing friction to a minimum and also to prevent the balls from falling away from the stem when the sleeve or socket is raised the balls 6 6 may be held in a suitable ball retainer and separator f, placed over the stem and fitting around the enlarged conical portion a, such retainer being adapted to allow free play to the balls, while keeping them apart and holding them in their proper places to prevent them from falling out when the retainer is removed. The sleeve or socket B may also contain a suitable spring or catch adapted to engage the recess or annular groove at on the stem A when said stem is inserted within the sleeve for the purpose of holding the stem within the sleeve and preventing the caster from falling out when thefurniture-leg is lifted. For this purpose an annular groove may be formed within the sleeve or socket at a suitable. point to register with the groove (1. on

the stem or swivel-pin when the stem is in- ICO inserted within the sleeve, and a divided circular spring. g may be seated within said groove,so as to expand within the said groove. When the stem is inserted within the sleeve or socket its upper end will snap past the spring g; but said spring will recoil and engage the groove a around the stem and swivel the stem within the sleeve or socket. The stem may, however, be detached from the socket by drawing it downwardly, when the upper end of the stem will again slip past the said spring g. The sleeve or socket B may be fitted tightly within a socket of the furniture-leg or secured thereto by any desired means, and it will thus be apparent that the caster is susceptible of a perfect and easy movement within its vertical socket without danger of dropping out when the furniture-leg is raised, while at the same time the caster may be quickly attached or detached from the socket.

The yoke or roller-supporting frame 0 consists of the usual top or crown c and the limbs or shanks c c, the latter being preferably formed with suitable inwardly projecting cones or conical surfaces 0 c to provide bearings for the roller or wheel separate from and independent of the wheel-pin. Said cones or conical surfaces may be secured to the shanks, but are preferably formed integrally therewith bystamping from sheet-steel. The frame or yoke may be formed of a single piece of sheet-steel or other metal with the cones pressed in the shanks by any suitable means. After placing the roller or wheel between the shanks they may be fastened together by a wheel-pin 0 passing through holes in the cones or conical portions 0 c and centrally through the web of the wheel and secured by riveting the headless end of the bolt or screwing a nut thereon.

The roller or wheel D may consist of two cups d d, centrally apertured to receive the wheel-pin and placed back to back and riveted or otherwise secured together. Said cups d cl may be pressed from sheet metal similarly to the frame or yoke G. Antifrictionballs h h are placed within said cups, bearing against the interior walls of the same and against the cones 0 0 To reduce the friction to a minimum and prevent the balls from falling out when the wheel or roller is removed from the frame and to facilitate putting the caster together, said balls are placed in suitable ball retainers and separators 2' 11, closing the space between the cups and cones. It will be apparent that by the arrangement described the wheel or roller D may have a bearing-surface nearly as great as the outside diameter of the wheel or roller itself, whereby the roller may rotate much more easily than when journaled on the wheel-pin, as in ordinary casters, and, moreover, the weight of the furniture is supported by the cones c 0 and the usual shearing stress on the wheelpin is thus obviated. It will be observed that the rims of the cups are substantially at right angles to the bodies or backs thereof and that the antifriction-balls h 77. bear directly against the under side of said rims, thus furnishing avery simple and effectivelyoperating device.

The form above described is particularly adapted for small metal casters, and such casters may be formed entirely of sheet-steel cut and pressed into proper form, so as to form a light yet strong, neat, and durable caster, and the simplicity of the device renders the trouble and cost of manufacture exceedingly small.

In Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, I have shown a modification of my invention as embodied in an ordinary bed-caster. In this case the stem is denoted by the letter A and is formed in the usual manner integrally with the yoke or frame having the shanks O O. Cones c 0 may be secured in any manner to the inner faces or sides of the shanks C C, and cups d at, similar to the cups d d of the caster first described, may be set in the wood-filler or wheel D, said cups (1 d bearing on said cones c 0 through the medium of antifriction-balls h h, as in the former instance. The shanks may be then connected by the wheel-pin o riveted or otherwise secured to said shanks. If desired, the cones c 0 may be supported by or on the wheel pin or rivet 0 the shearing stress on said pin being less material in large casters, where the said wheel or rivet pin is large.

It will be observed that in both the furniture-caster and the bed-caster or modification (shown in Figs. 9 to 12) the caster wheel or roller embodies in its construction two cups, which are secured together bottomwise or back to back, the webs or bottoms of the cups being disposed in a vertical plane, and that in each cup a ball retainer and separator is fitted, with balls confined between the concave base or outer ring portion of the retainer and the concave face or rim of the cup, so that the balls have a bearing on the conical projections or cones formed on or carried by the shanks or arms of the yoke or roller-supporting frame; but in the modification, instead of securing the two cups directly together, as in the furniture-caster, (shown more clearly in Fig. 3,) an intermediate part of wood is provided, as shown more clearly in Figs. 10 and 11, the sides of said intermediate portion being recessed to receive the cups containing the retainers, and said cups are snugly fitted and confined in said recesses, so as to rotate with said intermediate portion.

From the particular construction of device herein shown and described it will be observed that the general arrangement or combination of elements is most eifective and that the body of the caster-wheel itself has the greatest amount of strength imparted thereto at the center in lines perpendicular to the axis thereof. The said limbs or shanks of the yoke are disposed at the outer sides of the cups instead of at the center, as in some instances heretofore, and thus the rims or edges of said cups are more thoroughly protected or guarded from injury fromcontact with external objects. In neither of the embodiments shown herein is there any open space between the backs or bottoms of the cups, and hence while the wheel is made much stronger, as already stated, there is no liability of either of said backs being bentinwardly, which of course would either entirely prevent or greatly impede the easy and free turning of the wheel upon its bearings.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A furniture-caster comprising a rollersupporting frame or yoke having conical projections on the inner sides of the limbs or shanks thereof, a roller or wheel journaled between said shanks and consisting of two cups arranged back to back with the rims thereof extending over the cones, balls between the rims and conical projections, and retainers for the balls constructed to close the space between said rims and projections, substantially as described.

2. A furniture-caster comprising a rollersupporting frame or yoke having conical projections on the inner sides of the limbs or shanks thereof, a roller or wheel journaled between said shanks and constructed with two cups arranged back to back with the rims thereof extending over the cones, and antifriction devices between the cones and rims bearing directly against the under side of the latter, substantially as shown and described.

3. A furniture-caster comprising a rollersupporting frame or yoke having conical projections on the inner sides of the limbs or shanks thereof, a roller or wheel journaled between said shanks and constructed with two cups arranged back to back and having rims substantially at right angles thereto and extending over the cones, and antifriction devices between the cones and rims bearing directly against the under side of the latter, substantially as described.

4. In a furniture-caster, the combination with the roller-supporting frame or yoke, and the pin or rivet connecting the shanks thereof, of cones carried by the frame or yoke surrounding the pin, a wheel having two cups each opposite to or confronting one of the cones with the rim thereof extending over said cone, said cups being secured together to revolve as one, antifriction-balls between the cones and rims bearing directly against the under side of said rims, and retainers for the balls constructed to close the space between the rims and cones, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY B. KEIPER. Witnesses:

WALTER GEOFF,

WALTER A. MILLER. 

